New Plan of Action and Adjustments

Itinerary Update:
As I was putting tentative dates onto the itinerary, I noticed that I have 11 days to "play with". This meant that some of those 18/19 mile days could be split into 2 days. As it now stands, there are 7 days that are designated as sick or resting days. Hopefully, we won't need to use these days due to injuries or sickness. I would love to be able to use these days at the end in our swanky hotel.

Here is the new itinerary:

Trekking Pole Issues: 

My trekking pole protection tips came in the mail the other day, so I thought I would try the poles out walking around the house. I guess I must be a total moron, because I don't  think I was using the right. Is there really a wrong way to use them??? Sad to admit, but I had to look how to use them on YouTube. The information was pretty helpful....learned the proper way to use the wrist loops in order to grip the poles without putting too much pressure on hands. Also learned that I needed to make sure that my poles are tilted, not straight, in order to make sure that I am using the poles to propel me forward.

Training update:

Tuesday, I was going for my run in hopes of going 5 miles (the run before that was 4.75 miles). However, my body didn't want to cooperate. My calves got so tight around 1.5 miles that I had to stop. I had to wait until Thursday to try for 5 miles again. Well, I made it.....barely. There was LOTS of stopping and waiting after mile 3. At least I made it! This getting in shape thing is over-rated. If my body would be able to handle the Camino without this, I would not run another step!

Candy and I made to our "training grounds" Saturday (last weekend was a bust because of all the rain). We trained with our fully loaded packs. I am not sure how much Candy's weighed, but I have been very choosy in what goes into my pack. My pack weighed around 13 pounds, that included my lunch and water. This was the first time that I took my new pack out on a trek. It is very different from my other pack, and it is going to take a while for me to get used to it. The only that bothered (well, still does) me was not knowing where the pack should sit on my hips...one the hop bone, above the hip bone??? Once I figure this out, I believe that this pack is going to be just fine. 

Since I have been running a lot, my feet are starting to get those pesky "hot spots" around the arches of my feet. Prevention is key when it comes to blisters. The tape worked wonderfully. Even though we did not trek as long as we normally do, I could still tell a difference in my feet. Another thing was I finally put my Superfeet inserts into my boots. I waited because I didn't want them to get worn out. They provided much needed shock absorption and support. 

Glasses Situation:

I quickly realized that using contacts on the Camino is just too much like work. Who wants to keep up with several pair contacts, glasses, and sunglasses??? NO BODY! That's why I decided to go with transition lenses (well...there was someone who suggested transition lenses too). Now I will only have to worry about the glasses on my face.

Getting Updates While I'm Gone:

I have had several people ask me how they could they keep up with my blog while I was gone. The answer is simple.....I will not be posting the link to my blog on Facebook while I'm gone. So, you can get email updates by signing up using the "Follow by Email" box on the right hand side of this blog.



Cathedrals, Poles, and Glasses vs. Contacts

Getting things crossed off my list just reminds me that I will be leaving before I know it! Oh, how I can't wait...in just 3 more months I will be taking my shell off my rear view mirror to attach to my pack!

In just 3 months, I will be seeing the beautiful country side of France and Spain along with some awesome cathedrals. I think that is what I want to see the most. Being able to see these amazing structures that were created to glorify God just gets me "all riled-up".  Here is just a preview of what I'm going to see (hopefully go inside to explore and partake in a pilgrim's service):

This is St. James' Cathedral to mark the end of the journey.

This is inside a cathedral in Burgos

This is just somewhere along the way. Don't know where, but I want to go inside ;)

This shows all the cathedrals that I will pass. I know that it's not a great picture, but it gives you an idea of what I'll be seeing. 

Moving on before I get lost in looking for more pictures.....

Candy asked me if I would like to go shopping with her for some gear Sunday, and I thought it would be a great opportunity to see what else I needed. While we were there, Candy looked at trekking poles which reminded me that I needed to get a better set. The ONE that I bought without really doing my homework is bulky and heavy...the moral of the story kids is to never buy trekking poles online. I was trying not to spend too much money on poles, but that didn't work very well. If I wanted the kind that I truly needed, it was going to cost me a little bit. So here is what Candy and I both ended up getting:

They are Black Diamond Trekking Poles. They are adjustable from 100 cm to 120 cm I believe. They are very lightweight at only 17oz. Plus the poles collapse. 

Just in case you haven't heard...I was able to make my reservation at Orisson (a private hostel along first day)! It just made it seem more real and unbelievably close. Making the reservations were easier than I thought. You just have to email them from their website with your information. Then they email you back with an invoice to pay through PayPal. Couldn't be simpler.

Click on the picture to go to their site. The hostel looks beautiful.

Candy did find some information that said the hostel gives you a 5 minute token to do ALL of your washing. Oh boy! I will be coming up with a plan because it could end badly. I will also have to think about maybe getting some food at the markets in Saint Jean before we head out since I don't know what the meals are going to be anything that I can eat. 

A summer trip means lots of sun, right? Well, that means sunglasses. Since I wear glasses, I will have to have clip-ons.....not my favorite choice. I thought that I would get around that by wearing contacts. I needed to get some for my mud run next month, so I thought that I would give them a go over the weekend to see if I could handle wearing them everyday for 6 weeks. The answer is a big fat NO! Ever since I got an infection in my eye from contacts several years ago, contacts became extremely uncomfortable and still are apparently even with "dailies". All well....back to glasses. It was a nice thought though. 

I do have to say that I will miss this little girl right here while I am gone:

Got the Train....A Little Bit Closer Now

I just purchased my train ticket to take me to Bayonne from Paris! *squeak*

Once my friend decides when she wants to start walking, I will be able to make the reservation at Orrison. This is so exciting!!!!

It's getting so close I can almost taste it!

It's Booked!

Well, it's finally happened. I booked my plane tickets! On May 25, 2014, I will be heading to Paris to begin my journey on the El Camino de Santiago in Saint Jean Pied de Port. I'll be on the way home on July 10th. That's a whopping 43 days! The only thing left to book is my train ticket from Paris to Saint Jean to complete my traveling plans. Haven't decided if arrangements need to be made for Orisson...I have until February to decide.

It's amazing how this has come all together. After watching the movie "The Way", I felt compelled to do this walk. When I mentioned it to my mom, who mentioned it to Candy, it was only a hopeful desire. It was just something that I could do after I finished graduate school. Now, it's becoming more of a reality. God has really been putting the pieces together from the most simple things, like getting my items I need to travel, to getting my plane tickets. I just can't get over it.

Here's a great example: I have been wondering about how I was going to handle my expenses without a huge cost (most institutions charge an exchange rate fee when you're overseas); I mean I was really struggling over what to do. Many posts on the El Camino boards talked about using an investment company that allowed you to have a checking account, but I wasn't too sure about that. Well, I had gotten locked out of my saving account and had to call the company to get it unlocked. Through this I was able to set up a separate account with a debit card with NO fees in about 2 minutes. The conversation with the "agent" just naturally went to me going out of the country and needing some way of having access to my money while keeping my "trip funds" separate from my "normal funds". Thank you Jesus for locking me out of my account in order to make this possible. This may seem like no big deal to most people, but it's a huge deal to me. I have to have every detail planned and know how things are going to get done. Not knowing torture for me.

Many months ago, a dear sister in my church gave me a scalloped shell to put on my pack during my pilgrimage. I hung it on my rear view mirror just so I wouldn't loose it. Well it has become more than just a place to keep up with something. It has become a symbol of hope and anticipation. The hope that I will be able to complete the journey, and the hope that God is going to do something magnificent in my life during the pilgrimage. Along with the anticipation of WHAT God is going to do. Nothing is more exciting when you know that something big is about to come in the horizon. You may not know what is coming, but you know that it's going to be something that you'll never forget and will change your life forever. I might not even realize what God has done until I return, but I do know that this pilgrimage was by God's design. Things have been falling into place so easily, and I know that God is working behind the sense to make it possible. He's even making it possible for Candy to go (she wasn't too sure that her boss was going to let her be gone for such a long time)!

Now lets see if I can get through this Spartan Race in March.....I am trying to think of it as training for the Camino. So if you see some weirdo running in the middle of the winter in Alabama, you now know why.

Plane Tickets and Such

It's that time....time to buy the plane tickets! Whoot! Whoot!

My friend and traveling buddy, Candy, and I got together last night to discuss the final dates and flight times for our El Camino. We had our paper and pens ready to sketch out the details. Ipads and Macs were handy to look up the flight info and new blogger information.

We went through several different dates and scenarios that could affect the traveling dates. How long should we allow for arrival and rest before starting? What if there was an emergency? Why not just stay a few extra days to relax before returning home? Those were just some of the things that went through our minds as we perused the internet for tickets.

It took us a little bit to find some returning flights that we NOT at 6:30. But we did. Hallelujah!! It don't know if I could get up at the butt crack of dawn to fly home after a journey like the El Camino. 

So on Thursday, I will be purchasing my plan tickets for May 25th to July 8th!! We are going to fly out of Birmingham into Paris. After the flight, we will catch a couple of trains for the final destination of Saint Jean Pied de Port. Neither one of us has ridden on train before, so this going to be exciting. I am more excited about riding on the TGV (the high speed train) than the "regular" train...I don't know why, but I am. When coming home we are going to fly out of Santiago (well, actually about 14 km outside Santiago) into Birmingham. I can't wait! Candy and I have been planning this trip for a little over a year now, and it is finally coming together. We are actually going to do this. It's amazing how God has been working out all the details for this trip. The direction God has been taking my prayers about this journey. The anticipation about what God is going to do while I'm gone is just so exciting.

Candy did mention to my mom last night that she has read many stories about how people met their spouses on the Camino. Hhhhmmmm.....maybe. The only thing Mom said was, "all I ask is that he speaks English". Ha ha ha!! 

Before we called it a night, Candy showed me this blogger on About.com that wrote every day of his journey on the Camino. It has some really good information about what to expect from the locals in some of the cities, cities that make great stopping points due to food and accommodations, and some general tidbits that could be useful. 

Stages Are A Go

Each day is all mapped out. Now I have an idea of what kind of training I am going to do during the next few months. I made a chart that includes starting and stopping point with the number of kilometers (km) and miles (mi) for each day.

El Camino de Santiago Itinerary

(34 days + 3 sick/rest days = 36 days)

Day #	From	To	Distance
1	Saint Jean Pied de Port	Orisson	8 km / 4.97 mi
2	Orisson	Roncesvalles	17.1 km / 10.5 mi
3	Roncesvalles	Zubri	21.5 km / 13.35 mi
4	Zubri	Pamplona	20.4 km / 12.67 mi
5	Pamplona	Puente la Reina	24 km / 14.9 mi
6	Puente la Reina	Ayegui	23.6 km / 14.66 mi
7	Ayegui	Torres del Rio	27.4 km / 17.02 mi
8	Torres del Rio	Logroño	20 km / 12.42 mi
9	Logroño	Nájera	29 km / 18.01 mi
10	Nájera	Santa Domingo de la Calzada	21 km / 13.04 mi
11	Santa Domingo de la Calzada	Belorado	22 km / 13.61 mi
12	Belorado	Agés	27 km / 16.77 mi
13	Agés	Burgos	23 km / 14.29 mi
14	Burgos	Hornillos del Camino	21 km / 13.04 mi
15	Hornillos del Camino	Castrojeriz	20.2 km / 12.55 mi
16	Castrojeriz	Frómista	25.2 km / 15.65 mi
17	Frómista	Carrion de los Condes	20.5 km / 12.73 mi
18	Carrion de los Condes	Terradillo de Templarios	26.8 km / 16.65 mi
19	Terradillo de Templarios	Calzadilla de los Hermanillos	26.9 km / 16.71 mi
20	Calzadilla de los Hermanillos	Mansilla de las Mulas	24.5 km / 15.22 mi
21	Mansilla de las Mulas	León	20 km / 12.42 mi
22	León	Villar de Mazzarife	22.2 km / 13.79 mi
23	Villar de Mazzarife	Astorga	31.2 km / 19.38 mi
24	Astorga	Rabanal de Camino	21.4 km / 13.29 mi
25	Rabanal de Camino	Molinaseca	26.5 km / 16.46 mi
26	Molinaseca	Villafranca del Bierzo	30.9 km / 19.20 mi
27	Villafranca del Bierzo	O’Cebreiro	30.1 km / 18.70 mi
28	O’Cebreiro	Triacastela	21.3 km / 13.23 mi
29	Triacastela	Sarria	18.7 km / 11.62 mi
30	Sarria	Portomarin	22.4 km / 13.92 mi
31	Portomarin	Pafas de Rei	24.8 km / 15.41 mi
32	Pafas de Rei	Ribadiso de Baixo	25.8 km / 16.03 mi
33	Ribadiso de Baixo	Arca/Pedrouzo	22.1 km / 13.73 mi
34	Arca/Pedrouzo	Santiago do Compostela	20.1 km / 12.49 mi

Now that school is about over, I am going to take the time to learn Spanish. I think I will throw a little French in there too for those 3 to 4 days that we're in France.